Wednesday, March 31, 2010

"Think of networking groups as a way of meeting people who can help you achieve your goals. Now you should ask yourself:

- What am I trying to achieve?- How can other people help me?- Who is best placed to help me?- What do they need to know and do?"

This is good advice and they are indeed great questions to help you clarify whether a networking group could be right for you and your business. I would add one more question:

- Who do they need to know?

Just joining the group, though, will not be enough. You have to be proactive!

The way that networking in such a group will work for you is by helping those people achieve their goals. To make sure it will work for you there are a few more questions you should ask yourself:

- Do I like the people in the group?- Are they people that could add value to my existing client & trusted relationships?- Am I able to give the group meetings priority over other things in my schedule?- Am I willing to invest time outside the group meetings to really get to know them and build profitable relationships?